I know this was posted nearly two months ago, and there's now little chance of much discussion about it, but I just watched Andrei Rublev for the first time.
I did not find it to be an easy watch. Some long movies go by quickly, this one does not. I found it hard to keep track of characters early on, and even later didn't recognize some o…
I know this was posted nearly two months ago, and there's now little chance of much discussion about it, but I just watched Andrei Rublev for the first time.
I did not find it to be an easy watch. Some long movies go by quickly, this one does not. I found it hard to keep track of characters early on, and even later didn't recognize some of the characters who returned from earlier chapters. All of that said, wow, it's a strikingly beautiful film, and because what I feel are its strongest sections come near the end, the earlier chapters gained more appreciation from me for doing their part to build to the ending.
The scale and violence of the Raid were remarkable (I audibly gasped when the horse tumbled over the railing, a moment I'm sure taints the film for many viewers; my understanding is that some versions of the movie also include the same horse being stabbed with a spear, but the 186-minute version I watched cut that), but for me it is The Bell that I know will most stay with me. Nikolai Burlyayev was tremendous in Ivan's Childhood, and seeing him show up 2+ hours into this was really exciting for me, and then I was totally enthralled with that chapter. Knowing the consequences of something going wrong, I held my breath as they removed the clay from the bell after it was fired, and again when the bell was hoisted from the pit, and again as we waiting to learn if it would ring. And after everything went well, to still see Boriska lying in the mud, sobbing, was really moving, and THEN to see Rublev, without any real hesitation, break his years-long silence to comfort the boy, reinvigorated to create his own art once again, I found it to be one of the most powerful endings in cinematic history.
I know this was posted nearly two months ago, and there's now little chance of much discussion about it, but I just watched Andrei Rublev for the first time.
I did not find it to be an easy watch. Some long movies go by quickly, this one does not. I found it hard to keep track of characters early on, and even later didn't recognize some of the characters who returned from earlier chapters. All of that said, wow, it's a strikingly beautiful film, and because what I feel are its strongest sections come near the end, the earlier chapters gained more appreciation from me for doing their part to build to the ending.
The scale and violence of the Raid were remarkable (I audibly gasped when the horse tumbled over the railing, a moment I'm sure taints the film for many viewers; my understanding is that some versions of the movie also include the same horse being stabbed with a spear, but the 186-minute version I watched cut that), but for me it is The Bell that I know will most stay with me. Nikolai Burlyayev was tremendous in Ivan's Childhood, and seeing him show up 2+ hours into this was really exciting for me, and then I was totally enthralled with that chapter. Knowing the consequences of something going wrong, I held my breath as they removed the clay from the bell after it was fired, and again when the bell was hoisted from the pit, and again as we waiting to learn if it would ring. And after everything went well, to still see Boriska lying in the mud, sobbing, was really moving, and THEN to see Rublev, without any real hesitation, break his years-long silence to comfort the boy, reinvigorated to create his own art once again, I found it to be one of the most powerful endings in cinematic history.
Wonderful stuff.